A Deal with the Devil
by GB Freak1
Summary: Shawn is missing.  His abductors have promised to kill him.  Backed into a corner, Henry makes a seedy deal with an old adversary to ensure Shawn's return.  Can Henry repay the favor?  Is Shawn really out of danger?  Stay Tuned!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Abduction

Gus arrived at the office at about nine in the morning, surprised to find it empty. He was sure that either Shawn would have spend the night in the office or at least beat him here. They were close to the end of the case that they were working on. There had been a rash of burglaries down at some of the stores on the pier and the Chief asked for some help finding the perpetrators. Shawn had some theories about who was behind the crimes and they were going to spend the day checking them out. Gus unlocked the office and walked over to his desk. He started up his laptop, hoping that Shawn would waltz in at any time. The office phone rang, "Psych, Burton Guster speaking."

"Mr. Guster, this is Chief Vick. I need you to come to the station immediately." Gus was puzzled that she said 'you' and not 'you and Mr. Spencer'.

"Well, Chief. I can do that. I need to find Shawn first. He's not here yet." He heard her sigh softly.

"That's why I need to see you. Shawn has apparently been abducted from outside his apartment building and whoever took him sent me a message this morning." Gus was shocked by what she said, but he knew he had to get to the station fast.

"I'll be right there. Wait, did you call his dad?"

"He's on his way," she said quietly.

About fifteen minutes later, Gus arrived and headed straight to Karen's office. Henry was sitting a chair in front of the Chief's desk. Gus walked to the door and knocked lightly on the open door.

"Come in, Gus," Karen said as she stood up. Gus moved to other chair, and sat as he nodded to Henry.

"What message did you get about my son?" Henry asked. Karen reached into a box that was next to her desk. She pulled out a motorcycle helmet that Gus and Henry immediately recognized as Shawn's.

"This box was left here by a courier this morning. We're investigating who sent it, but the name given to the courier was a fake ID. Inside the box, we found a helmet inside with a note. 'Chief, We have a certain psychic friend of yours. He will be setting an example for all you pigs. You back off on the pier robberies or you'll end up like him. Don't bother coming to find him. It will probably be too late. It's not signed." Karen glanced at both of the men in front of her. Gus appeared to be shaken up and frightened. Henry looked about the same, but she could see the wheels turning in his head.

"Who do you have on this?" Henry demanded.

"Lassiter, O'Hara and all the officers that patrol the pier. We'll find him Henry." Henry stood up and pointed at her.

"Really Karen? If you could have found them before, you wouldn't have needed my son's help."

"Mr. Spencer, the Chief is doing everything that she can," Gus said.

Henry realized that he should be cooperative if he wanted the Chief to share any information she had. He needed to find Shawn. "I'm sorry. I'm just a little…" Henry struggled for the next word.

"I understand Henry. Don't worry about it," Karen told him.

"His apartment, did you check there? If that's where they abducted him from, there's a camera on the front of the building," Gus said. Henry smiled at his son's friend.

"Gus, you're a genius. Let's go get that tape," Henry said moving toward the door, but stopped when Carlton Lassiter and Juliet O'Hara entered the office.

"Actually, it's on DVD. That's what we have right here. You can see the whole thing. The time stamp says it was about 10 p.m.," Lassiter said. Juliet sat quietly on the couch, looking quickly at Gus. Karen popped the DVD in her TV and pressed play. (Reader note: The video is described below in Italics. While you have the benefit of Shawn's POV and sound, the viewers in the office can only see the action.)

_Shawn climbed off his motorcycle in front of his apartment building. He took off his helmet and he was humming a song he had heard earlier. He started walking to the door of his building when a young man who appeared to be barely twenty years old stepped in front of him. The young man was fairly tall and well built, Shawn looked at the younger man puzzled for a second. Then Shawn realized that this kid was one of the people he suspected of robbing the stores on the pier. Shawn said, "Excuse me" as he moved to walk around the younger man._

_"Where you going psychic wonder?" The kid asked as he stepped in front of Shawn again. Shawn heard something behind him and was about to turn around when two men grabbed him from behind holding his arms. He struggled to break free from them. His helmet smashed to the ground. The man who blocked his path earlier grabbed Shawn's chin as the other two held him still. This kid appeared to be boss of the other two._

_"Boys this is the psychic that the cops have tailing us. It's funny that you didn't see this coming. Josh, Jeff and I are going to use you to teach your cop friends to back off." Then he savagely slammed his fist into Shawn's abdomen. Shawn grunted as he doubled over in pain. _

_"Big man, hitting a person your friends are holding," Shawn said as he straightened up as much as he could with the other two holding him. When the leader got real close to him, Shawn head butted him. The leader fell back stunned. Then Shawn stomped on the foot of one of the men holding him. That man let go and howled in pain. The other guy was caught off guard and Shawn landed an uppercut that his father would have been proud of. As the guy fell, Shawn rubbed his sore hand and said, "Ow". He was about to take off running when the leader grabbed his collar and spun him around. The next thing he knew he saw a fist flying towards his face, and then he saw darkness. _

_The leader laughed as Shawn fell to the ground unconscious. "Get up you morons, before someone calls the cops. We can take our friend here home with us for some fun. Then we can send the big bad lady police chief a message to tell her that her psychic is coming home in a body bag." They hauled Shawn up and dragged him to their waiting van. The leader picked up the helmet and followed. The van drove off._

The four people in the room sat in silence. The fifth, Juliet, had seen the video at the apartment superintendent's office, so she walked out about half way through it, not sure that she could stomach it a second time. Gus felt sick. "Shawn could be dead all ready," he thought.

Henry, while impressed that Shawn still had some defensive skills, was horrified to see his son abducted like that. Karen and Lassiter shared a glance. Henry was formulating his plan in his head. He still had a few friends that were once part of vice. They may still have some contacts down at the pier. He needed to leave. This was the one time in his life he knew that he had to abandon proper procedure and protocol if he ever wanted to see Shawn alive again.

"Well, we'll keep you both posted if and when we find anything out. I think it would be best if you aren't involved in the actual investigation," Karen said.

Gus was about to object, when Henry stood up and said, "Thanks for everything you're doing Chief Vick. Please keep me posted." He turned and walked out of the office.

"What just happened?" Gus asked. "Where's he going? You know he is not going to let it go?" Karen and Lassiter looked at one another. Gus got up and ran after Henry. He saw Henry about to get into his truck.

"Mr. Spencer, wait," he yelled. Henry stopped and turned toward Gus.

"Gus, just let me go. I know what I'm doing."

"No, I want to help."

"Okay. Who was Shawn investigating?"

"There are a bunch of kids, late teens, early twenties that all hang out down at the pier. A couple of the shop owners said that they believed that is was some sort of gang. They constantly are calling the cops to stop this group from hanging out and disrupting business. They think that the robberies are in retaliation for that. We didn't have any names yet. We were going to do that today."

"So how did they know you were investigating them?"

"I'm not sure. We were talking to a lot of shop owners. Maybe a couple of gang members work at the stores too."

"Thanks Gus. That's helpful. I'll call you if I need anything else. I've got some contacts that I'm going to talk to. Now go back to your office and wait to see if Shawn calls you," Henry climbed into the truck, closed the door and drove off.

Gus decided to head over to the office and see if there were any other clues that might help. He hated being shut out of this and hoped to find something to get his own hunt going.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Let's Make a Deal

Disclaimer: I don't own Psych or its characters.

Henry spoke to his old friend Dave Highland. Dave had retired last year and still had some contacts that could tell him what gangs and criminals were active downtown. They met at a local coffee shop and sat outside to discuss it.

"The gang down there is called the 'Pandilla Dolor'. They call themselves piratas. They are a bunch of crazy white kids from decent families that started this group to cause trouble. They committed minor crimes like vandalism, and shop lifting. Until this kid named Lyle James came along. He became their leader and these kids moved on to bigger things like burglary and auto thefts. They are bad news," Dave told Henry.

"How so?" Henry asked.

"Apparently, anyone that tries to leave the group has been killed, so we could never find anyone to testify. You said Shawn was close to getting names?"

"His partner Gus said that Shawn had some ideas, but nothing concrete. He must have spooked someone."

"Henry, I hate to say this, but getting anyone down there to name names will be close to impossible. There is only one option I can think of and you are not going to like it."

"Dave, this is my son. I'll do what I have to."

"John Martin."

Henry shook his head. He had arrested John Martin for running a protection racket back when he was a detective, but the charges were dropped. He and Martin had spent several years butting heads before the District Attorney finally got Martin for attempted murder and he spent 6 years in prison.

"I told you that you wouldn't like it. He's been out of prison for the last five years. He has been trying to start the protection racket again and the business owners are thinking about taking him up on it. He supposedly killed three of the piratas as proof of his power. If anyone can tell you where to find Shawn, he can."

"Where can I find him?" Henry asked.

"A bar on the pier called Don Diabolo. He is the owner now, hangs out in the back. Ask at the bar. I bet he'll be happy to see an old friend," Dave said sarcastically.

"Thanks Dave," Henry said shaking his hand and standing up.

"Good luck buddy. I hope you find your son."

Henry got back in his truck and drove down to the pier. He glanced down at this watch. It was about 11 a.m. Shawn had been missing for over twelve hours. He prayed that his son was still alive. "Hang on kid. I'm working on it," he said aloud, before exiting the truck. He decided not to bring his gun.

He walked into the dark, smoky bar. It reeked of alcohol, and tobacco. He sat on a barstool and ordered a beer. The bartender came back with his bottle. She was in her early forties. She had been pretty when she was younger, but hard living had made her age prematurely. She smiled and said, "You're new, I've never seen you here before."

"I just found out that an old friend of mine owns this place. I wanted to check it out."

"You know Johnny?"  
"He and I go way back. I haven't seen him in years."

"He's in the back room. I can tell him you're here." She said as she flirted with him. He smiled wide and turned on the charm, after all he had taught the kid everything he knew.

"Henry Spencer. Thanks sweetie," he said. She smiled and walked into the back room. He turned to watch her go, his expression changing to one of concern. She came back out slightly paler. He grinned to himself; "Mr. Martin must remember me."

"He'll see you now," she said curtly as she returned to cleaning glassware.

He entered the back office. John Martin was a large man, built like a football linebacker. He still had a full head of jet-black hair, although he was in his late forties and a looked as menacing now as he did the last time Henry had seen him. Henry remembered the man's former nickname 'El Diabolo'. He was given the name by some of the people he 'protected'. Henry stood in front of the desk. John raised his dark brown eyes to meet Henry's blue ones.

"Detective Spencer. To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"I'm not a detective anymore, I'm retired," Henry said.

"Well, sit down. Can I get you anything?" Henry shook his head and sat down. The two made eye contact as if sizing the other one up.

"So what can I do for you?"

"I need some information on the Pandilla Dolor. Where can I find them?"

"What do you need them for?"

"I think they have my son." Henry was surprised when John appeared to tense, but then returned to his calm demeanor.

"Do they? And I assume you want him back?" John said and smiled. Henry looked at him incredulously.

"Okay, stupid question. Nasty little bastards they are. Are you sure he's not dead all ready?"

"I, I honestly don't know," Henry said. This conversation was more than a little unnerving.

"Well, I'm feeling generous today Spencer. I'll get your kid back for you, but I'll need something from you."

"Wait. I just need to know where they are. I don't need or want you anywhere near my son," Henry sneered.

"Now Spencer, is that the way to treat an old friend? Besides you wouldn't get five miles near their hang out before they slit, what's your kid's name?"

Henry swallowed, "Shawn."

"Before they slit Shawn's throat. All I need is one favor. Is one favor worth Shawn's life Henry?"

Henry thought for a minute. Of course it was worth Shawn's life. He would do what he had to save Shawn's life. He realized that he made his decision the minute he walked into this bar. "Fine. I'll do whatever you ask. When?"

"I'll bring him to you, by tonight around 9 p.m. No cops. You still live in the same house," John smiled as he said it.

Henry's eyes narrowed in anger. "Yes."

"Good. See you then. Close the door on the way out, would you?"

Henry walked out of the office, closed the door and continued out of the bar. "What did I get myself into?" he asked himself and headed home.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: My Son, My Son

Disclaimer: I don't own Psych or Its characters.

At about 9 p.m. that night, Henry heard the banging on his front door. He had just hung up with Gus. He had been trying to avoid his son's best friend for the whole day. Finally he answered his phone and Gus pressed him on what he was doing. He told Gus that everything was under control. But now knowing who was at the door, fear turned his stomach. He took the automatic off the counter, loaded a round, and put the gun in the back waistband of his pants. He took a deep breath and walked to the front door.

"Spencer, Shawn and I are getting bored out here. I don't think your son can take much more of people being bored," the voice behind the door said. Henry could feel the rage welling up inside him as he threw open the front door. There stood Martin holding his son up by the back of Shawn's shirt collar. The thug pushed Shawn at him and Henry reacted quickly and caught him. Shawn's hands were bound in front of him and he slumped against Henry, still unconscious. Henry got his arms around his son and moved him over to the couch, not much caring about the Martin and his henchman that had entered his home.

He sat Shawn down on the sofa, gently resting his head back against the cushions. His anger grew as he looked at his son's face. It was viciously bruised like Shawn had been in some boxing match. His one eye appeared horribly swollen and his lower lip looked painfully split. The rope around his hands had cut into the skin. Henry could only assume that the bastards had hung Shawn up by his hands like some dead animal carcass. Henry removed the rope carefully trying not to hurt Shawn further. One of his son's hands weakly grabbed his. He looked up to see dazed hazel eyes staring back at him. Shawn's head still rested against the cushions, but he tilted it to the side so that he could look at his father. There was fear in his eyes, the kind of vulnerability that Henry hadn't seen in a long, long time. Henry turned his hand in Shawn's so that he could gently squeeze it, trying to reassure his injured son.

"Hey, you okay?" he asked Shawn. Shawn shook his head no very slightly.

"This is really touching and all Spencer, but we got business to discuss," Henry's nemesis said. Henry did not miss the way his son flinched when he heard that voice. The pale skin on Shawn's face got a little paler. Henry made eye contact with his son as he squeezed his hand again.

"Hold tight," he whispered to Shawn. He stood to turn and face the intruders. Shawn tried to grab his father's shirt to stop him, but missed.

"So Martin, what do you want?" Henry asked as walked toward the man.

"I got you your kid back, now I want my favor."

"I'm not sure bringing him back looking like you went 12 rounds with him is what I had in mind," Henry growled at him.

"That was the way I found him, I swear," Martin said and smiled. "I told you, nasty little bastards."

"I'm sure. What the hell is this favor you want?"

"I want you to get me the video tape from my kid's case. The little bugger robbed a convenience store. They got it all on tape."

"You want me to steal evidence from the police. How exactly do you expect me to do that?"

"Oh, I'm sure you'll think of something. Besides I'm pretty sure that Shawn over there really doesn't want to see me again," Martin smiled darkly. "I'll meet you Monday night at 10 in Alameda Park."

Henry glanced back over his shoulder and saw Shawn watching what was going on. Henry walked closer to Martin, "I'll get what you want, but you stay the hell away from my son."

"Spencer, you came to me for help. I found your boy. Alive. And if you'd like him to stay that way, let's just consider us two old friends doing favors for one another. See you Monday," Martin smiled. He started walking toward the door, not before stopping, looking at Shawn, and taunting, "Little Spencer, it was nice to meet you. Hope to see you again." Shawn's eyes widened as Martin spoke to him. Martin and his friend walked out the front door. Henry quickly locked the door after them and headed back to Shawn. Henry sat on the couch next to him.

"You went to him for help?" Shawn rasped, "Why? Why would you do that? Do you know what he did? He killed all of them Dad, all of them." Shawn said rapidly. He seemed to be on the verge of a panic attack, almost gasping. Henry couldn't remember ever seeing his son so distressed. Shawn had wrapped his hand in the edge of Henry's shirt. Henry pulled Shawn close to him and embraced his son gently in an effort to try to calm him.

"Hey, slow down. Don't worry about that now. Just relax," Henry whispered and rubbed his back lightly. Henry froze when Shawn let out a yelp of pain.

"Whoa, what's wrong?" Henry asked him as he sat Shawn back against the couch. Henry felt the bile come up his throat when he lifted Shawn's T-shirt and saw the extensive bruising on his rib cage. "Oh kiddo."

"Dad, you can't do it. You can't help him," Shawn whispered as Henry lowered the shirt. Shawn had his eyes tightly shut and still had a tight grasp of Henry's shirt in his hand. Shawn opened his eyes and Henry saw that Shawn's eyes glistened with unshed tears.

"Listen kid. I did what I had to do to get you out of there. Now I've got to do this. I made this deal and I'm not going to let you get hurt again." Shawn stared at him with wide frightened pain-filled eyes.

"You should have called Vick. You didn't need to call him. I would have been fine," he told his father.

"Yeah Shawn, you look fine. They were going to kill you. Waiting on the police would have been your death sentence. I did what I needed to do."

"You can't help him. You'll get arrested. Please don't do it," he told his father. Henry was shocked and a little disturbed by the pleading in his son's voice.

"Shawn, stop," Henry lashed back.

"No, it's my fault that you're involved at all. I'll find another way to stop him," Shawn said. His breathing was becoming rapid again.

"Shawn, this is not a discussion. It's my problem now. Don't worry about this now. We need to get you to the hospital. You're a mess."

"How are we going to explain this to the Chief?" Shawn asked. There was banging on the door again. Shawn paled, and Henry put his hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, it's okay. It's probably just Gus. I think he's a little mad at me."

"Mr. Spencer! Mr. Spencer! I need to talk to you." The angry shout from behind the door said.

Henry was getting up to answer the door, when he saw Shawn falling over."Shawn," he cried and laid his son flat on the couch. He checked his pulse. It was a little fast. He went to the front door and opened it.

"Is he here? Did you find him?" Gus asked, speaking rapidly after hearing Henry call Shawn's name.

"Yes Gus. He's on the couch," Henry said. Gus went to move past him, but Henry caught his arm. "Gus, wait. He's been beaten up pretty bad and he's a little shaky. Take it easy. Okay?" Gus frowned and walked to the couch.

"Oh man," he said as he looked at his friend. He glanced up at Henry. "We need to find these punks."

"I don't think you need to worry about that anymore," Henry said. Gus stared at him confused, but then sank to his knees next to the couch. "Let's get him to your car. We need to get him to the hospital," Henry told him.

Gus felt a hand on his shoulder and he looked over at Shawn. Shawn's eyes were open and watching him. Gus was a little freaked out by the fear he saw. "Hey buddy. Good to see you. You look like crap man," Gus said trying to smile.

"Tell him not to do it, Gus. You have to tell him," Shawn whispered desperately, and then closing his eyes again. Henry stood at the end of the couch.

"What's he talking about?" Gus asked, clearly worried at Shawn's distress.

"Shawn, open your eyes. Shawn, you have to stay awake. Gus, let's sit him up," Henry said ignoring Gus' question.

Gus grabbed Shawn's arm and put his arm around Shawn's back. Henry came over and moved his legs so that his feet were on the floor. "Whoa," Shawn said as the room began to swim. Henry and Gus each grabbing an arm raised him to stand and Shawn's knees gave out as he lost consciousness. Gus gasped in surprise. Henry turned slightly and tapped lightly on Shawn's face.

"Come on kiddo. Don't scare your old man. It's not nice." After getting no response, he turned to Gus, "Let's go."

They both walked the unconscious injured man out slowly to the Gus' car. They opened the back door and sat Shawn in the back seat. Henry went around the other side and sat in the back as well. He carefully pulled Shawn to rest against him. Gus got in the driver's seat and started for the hospital. Gus was surprised to look in the rear view mirror and see Henry resting his chin on the top of Shawn's head and he had one hand on his son's hair and the other wrapped around Shawn's torso. Gus saw that Shawn was shaking and his hand was tightly gripping Henry's forearm. Shawn was repeatedly whispering with a quake in his voice, "You can't Dad. He killed them. You can't help him."

"Shhhh, Shawn. Just relax." Henry said to him, rocking him gently and trying to calm him.

"What's he mean? Who killed who?" Gus said, completely confused. "How did you find him?"

"Gus, not now. We'll talk about it later."

A few minutes later they arrived at the hospital. Henry and Gus moved quickly to get Shawn inside. Shawn never fully regained consciousness. Gus frowned when Henry told the emergency room personnel that his son was attacked and they weren't sure who it was. The nurse informed them that the police would need to be called and Henry walked away. Gus quietly told her to please ask for Detective Lassiter. Gus and Henry were shuttled to the waiting room.

"Why did you tell them you didn't know who attacked him?" Gus asked.

"Do you know?" Henry fired back.

"Hey, don't get mad at me. And no, I don't know names. I believe it was those thugs that I told you about. We were getting pretty close to figuring out who they were. What did Shawn mean that they were dead? Who killed them?" Gus asked him. He was a little surprised at how quiet Henry got.

"You're not going to like the answer and I'm fairly certain that Shawn is going to like it even less when he's completely aware," Henry said. Gus heard the worry in his voice.

"You told me you were going to get talk to some contacts to help find him. Who did get to help you?"

Henry laughed and shook his head slightly. "John Martin. He's a.."

"Criminal. He's the guy that was running the protection racket down on the pier a few years back," Gus stared at Henry and stood up. "You got a criminal to help you get Shawn back. You could have got him killed. If Shawn saw him kill someone, your SON still could be in danger." Gus yelled at his best friend's father.

"Gus, Shawn would be dead right now if I didn't get Martin to help me. I certainly don't have to justify my actions to you. You have no idea how I was feeling. I was desperate. He's not going to touch Shawn." Henry yelled back.

"Oh right, because you're said so. Do you know how pissed Shawn's going to be when he is fully awake and finds out what you did? Are you going to make sure nothing bad happens to him?"

"Gus, all you need to know is that I have it covered," Henry told him harshly.

"You know that 'I know more than you crap' doesn't work with Shawn and it doesn't work with me. I want to know what is going on. You're not the only one that cares about Shawn," Gus yelled.

"Would you two keep it down! This is a hospital for crying out loud," Lassiter scolded them as he and Juliet entered.

"What are you two doing here?" Henry asked angrily. Juliet was a little taken back by his tone.

"Apparently Mr. Guster asked the hospital to call us," Lassiter fired back at him. Henry glared at Gus and Gus glared back. Lassiter and Juliet were a little surprised at the two yelling at each other.

"Where did you find Shawn?" Juliet asked Henry. Henry looked at her, then to Lassiter.

"Well, I didn't find him. More like he found me. Someone dropped him on my front porch," Henry lied. Gus sat down in a chair in the corner.

"Must have had a change of heart," Lassiter said and smiled slightly at Henry, "We'll come back and talk to Spencer, I mean Shawn, when he's conscious."

"Thanks for coming down Detectives," Henry said. Juliet, who was standing next to Lassiter, was puzzled by Gus' apparent anger. She kept looking over to him, but followed as Lassiter left.

"Now you're lying to the police."

"Gus, I'm not lying, just not sharing, right now. I need to figure out my next move. Can we just wait and see how Shawn is and then worry about this?"

"Fine," Gus grumbled.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Reliving the Nightmare

This is a flashback (in Italics) to what happened when Shawn was held captive. It is a little graphic.

_Shawn tried to remember where he was before opening his eyes. The pounding in his head was intense. He went to move his hand to rub his eyes and realized that he couldn't move his hands because they were bound together and above his head. His eyes flew up in panic. The memory of guys attacking him outside his apartment came back to him. "Oh crap," he whispered. He scoped out the room. It appeared to be an abandoned warehouse. The room he was in was small, like an upstairs office. The rope his hands were tied with was thrown over a hook so that his feet just barely touched the floor and his ankles were bound to the pole as well. The pain from the pulling on his shoulders was beginning to increase. He laughed to himself. "Maybe I'll gain a few more inches." He heard footsteps on the stairs coming closer to the room. He closed his eyes and willed himself not to panic.He opened them to view his captors._

_"Look who's awake, boys, Santa Barbara's own psychic wonder," Lyle said smiling. _

_Shawn smiled at him. "Ah, to be greeted by Santa Barbara's own village idiot is such an honor." The other two gang members in the room chuckled at the comment._

_Lyle smiled. "You are pretty funny. I can see why your dad and buddy would be pretty broken up about you being missing." _

"_You won't be smiling when the whole police department comes in here and kicks your ass," Shawn said smugly. _

_Lyle got super close to Shawn. Lyle grabbed Shawn's chin. "You won't be laughing for long psychic man. Josh, let's show Mr. Spencer how we have a good time, shall we? Don't forget the brass knuckles. I want to see this pretty boy's face bruised up, should make for a depressing funeral. Think your daddy will be sad that his only boy is dead?" Shawn growled at him and pulled his chin from Lyle's grip. Shawn tried to head butt him again, but Lyle put his hand up and slammed Shawn's head back against the pole. Shawn saw stars. _

"_Have fun boys," Lyle said leaving the room. The twenty minutes that followed saw Shawn take vicious hits to the ribs, face, abdomen and legs. By the time the 'boys' were done, Shawn was groaning in pain, barely aware of anything. They left the unconscious man alone. _

_Some time later, Shawn rejoined the conscious world when he heard the door to the room open and slam shut. It was Lyle again. Shawn's vision was fuzzy, but he could see that Lyle looked panicked. He came toward Shawn, and Shawn flinched away. Lyle shoved a rag in Shawn's mouth. "This should shut you up. Don't want our visitors to know you're up here." Shawn stared at him then dropped his head in sheer exhaustion._

_There was a pounding on the door and it opened again. "Lyle, its El Diablo. He wants to see you," a voice said. Shawn wasn't sure that he'd heard that voice before and was too tired to care. _

"_What? It's not the cops? What the hell?" The two were silent as they listened to a loud booming voice coming up the steps._

"_Oh Lyle, where are you? I've heard that you've been a bad boy."_

_Lyle stood tall and opened the door to the upstairs office. The other kid in the room stood next to Shawn. Shawn opened his eyes and raised his head to see the newcomer. _

"_Mr. Martin, why are you here?"_

"_Lyle, did I ask you to make a spectacle of this gang?"_

"_No sir."_

"_So explain to me why this guy, police department consultant and the son of a retired cop, is tied up here and looks like you almost killed him. His father is going to be pissed. Did you intentionally try to cause me problems?"_

_Lyle tensed, "Sir, he was getting too close to us. This is to get them all to back off."_

"_You're telling me in order to get the police to back off, you're going to beat to death one of their friends. Are you an idiot?"_

"_Yes. I mean no sir."_

_Martin raised his pistol and pointed it straight at Lyle's head. "I think you were right the first time." BANG! The bullet hit Lyle right between the eyes. Shawn's eyes widened in fear as Lyle dropped to the ground. The other kid was dead before he could raise his weapon._

"_This man is a cold-blooded killer," Shawn shivered at the thought. John walked straight over to him. He picked up Shawn's chin in his hand._

"_You must be Spencer's kid, huh?" When Shawn didn't respond, he slapped the bruised cheek. Shawn's eyes closed in pain, but he nodded slowly. He felt the barrel of the gun on his forehead and he opened his eyes to look at Martin._

"_It is so tempting to blow your brains out right now for all the problems that your dad has caused me." Shawn watched as Martin squeezed harder on the trigger._

"NOOOOO!!!" Shawn sat bolt up straight and then cried out in pain. His ribs protested the abuse and he fell sideways on the bed. He was trying hard to breathe through the pain. He felt two hands on his shoulders and someone gently talking to him. He tried to focus on the voice.

"Hey, easy kiddo. It was just a dream. It's over now. You're in the hospital." It was his dad.

"Dad?" Shawn asked, as he turned his head.

"Yeah. Are you trying to hurt yourself?" Henry asked jokingly. Henry frowned when Shawn didn't smile at him.

"I was just joking Shawn. Hey, look at me. Are you all right?" Shawn made eye contact, with a strange expression on his face.

"Yes. Um, can I get a drink?"  
"Oh, sure," Henry said as he poured a glass of water for Shawn. The nurses had left some straws for him, because they knew his mouth would be sore. Henry used the hospital bed's controls to move the bed so Shawn was sitting up a little more. The doctor had him sitting up because it was easier on his ribs. Suddenly Shawn paled; Henry almost dropped the glass of water. He quickly placed it on a nearby table.

"What's wrong? Shawn?"

"Sick. Gonna be sick." Henry quickly grabbed the basin from behind the bed. He realized that he moved the bed too fast. The doctor said Shawn's concussion was pretty bad and the motion must have made him nauseous. Luckily Shawn didn't have too much in his stomach to throw up. Henry could tell that the small action had really abused Shawn's broken ribs. Henry buzzed the nurse. She brought the doctor in so that they could examine Shawn. They gave him some more pain medication and left the pair alone. Gus entered the room during the exam after returning from eating. Shawn looked like he was fighting hard to stay awake.

"Hey buddy," Gus said to Shawn, "How are you feeling?" Shawn looked at him for a minute.

"Tired. You're okay, right?"

"Me? Yeah, I'm fine. You're the one that seems to like to make people mad." Gus chuckled, but was surprised when Shawn just nodded and yawned.

"Hey, get some sleep," Henry told him, gently patting his arm. Shawn's eyes drifted closed. Henry looked down at his watch. It was close to midnight, Sunday morning. He knew it would be a while before Shawn was awake again. It gave him some time to plot his next moves.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: A Fight, A Message, and A Couple of Bad Decisions

Shawn heard voices in his hospital room talking quietly. He was still tired, so he just listened before opening his eyes. He could tell it was mid-morning from the amount of light in the room.

"So, then he asked if one favor was worth Shawn's life. What was I going to say to that, Gus? I told him that I would do whatever he asked," that was his father's voice.

"What's the favor?" Gus answered. He was starting to understand Henry's perspective.

"Steal evidence from his son's case." Henry answered. Shawn felt his blood pressure rising and then he heard a chair slide back.

"Are you out of your mind?" Gus yelled, but quickly put his hand over his mouth. Both men looked to Shawn and were amazed that he wasn't disturbed by Gus' outburst.

"If I don't do this Gus, then Martin will come back after Shawn."

"Who's to say that won't happen anyway?" Gus challenged him.

"I won't let it," Henry fired back, knowing that he really didn't have a real answer to that question.

"How are you going to get the evidence?"

"I don't have it all figured out just yet," Henry answered. Then a quiet voice interrupted their conversation.

"Gus, could you give me a minute with my Dad, please?" Shawn said quietly. Gus and Henry turned to look at Shawn, surprised to see him awake.

"Um, sure. I'll be outside," Gus said. Henry and Shawn stared at each other for a minute.

"You called Martin for help?" Shawn asked angrily, but it wasn't as loud as he would have liked because of his exhaustion and injuries.

"Shawn," Henry said testily.

"Answer the question, Dad."

"Yes, Shawn. I did."

"Did you have any idea what he was going to do to those kids when he found me?" Henry was surprised at the angry quiver in his son's voice.

"I didn't think about the consequences."

"You, the mighty Henry Spencer didn't think about the consequences. Come on. How many years did I listen to 'Shawn you have to think about the consequences of your actions'? Were you just blowing smoke up my ass?" Shawn yelled at him.

"So I was just supposed to sit back and let them kill you. You know that wasn't going to happen," Henry angrily yelled at him.

"What I really want to know Dad is what makes my life more important than those kids that he killed? You asked a known killer to find me. And now you are going to break the law to repay him. When you go to prison for this, how in the hell am I supposed to live with knowing it's my fault you're there?" Shawn's voice cracked with a combination of anger and despair. Henry stared at him for a minute, trying to think of what to say.

"I don't have to explain myself to you, kid," Henry finally fired back, facing away from Shawn. He was not at all comfortable with the emotions that they were skating around.

"You're right. You don't, so do me a favor. Get out," Shawn whispered angrily and looked away from his father. Henry looked at his son and was about to say something, but decided against it and walked out of the room. Shawn covered his eyes with his hand and tried hard to control his emotions. He heard the door open again and someone sit down on the mattress. He removed his hand to look at Gus and he sniffled.

"You okay?" Gus asked.

"Oh yeah, freaking peachy. I just threw my father out of my hospital room for saving my life. I'm the greatest son ever," Shawn said sarcastically.

"Shawn, I know you're mad at him. He didn't see any other way to find you."

"Gus, he taught me almost everything I know. He could have followed the clues and done this the conventional way."

"He didn't have that kind of time, Shawn. They could have killed you at any moment."

"I don't want to talk about this any more, Gus. Turn on ESPN, would you. I want to see the baseball scores." Gus grabbed the remote and switched the T.V. to ESPN. He sat back down in a chair that faced the television. He knew Shawn was trying to avoid thinking about the fight that just occurred. Within about twenty minutes, Shawn was asleep. Gus figured that the cracked ribs, concussion, massive bruising, and the traumatic experience were all catching up with Shawn. Gus grabbed the magazine he brought with him and started reading. He didn't want to leave Shawn alone and unprotected.

About an hour later, a candy striper entered with a small bouquet of flowers. She smiled at Gus and left the arrangement on the table near the window. As she was leaving, Juliet O'Hara entered. As she and Gus were exchanging pleasantries, Shawn woke up. He smiled at Juliet.

"Hey Jules," he said softly.

"Hi Shawn. You look terrible. Are you feeling okay?"

"Better, now that you're here," Shawn said with a grin.

Gus rolled his eyes and walked over to the flower arrangement. He was interested in seeing who it was from. He heard Juliet tell Shawn that she was visiting not only as a friend, but for business as well. Gus pulled the little envelope off and looked up to make sure that Shawn and Juliet were still talking. He opened the card and stared at the words. "Remember Spencer, get what I want or I will finish what those kids started. By the way, glad to see Shawn is doing so well. JM." The wheels in Gus' head started spinning. He needed to find Henry fast, after that he wasn't sure. Maybe if he helped him, they both could keep Shawn out of danger. He thought he heard someone saying his name.

"Gus, who are they from?" Shawn asked him again. Gus was in a daze since he opened the card.

"Actually, I think that they were for whoever was in this room before you. Oh, well," he chuckled nervously, crumpled up the card and tossed it in the trash. He pulled out his phone and pretended to read a message. "Oh shoot. Juliet, would you mind hanging out with Shawn for a little bit? I forgot I promised Dr. Reilly some samples today."

"Sure Gus," she said sweetly. Gus avoided looking at Shawn and walked quickly out of the room.

"Okay, that was a total lie," Shawn said as he stared at the door.

"What? Why would Gus lie?"

"Jules, its Sunday. Doctor's offices are closed on Sunday. The card for the flowers freaked him out. Can you get it out of the trash can?"

"I think you're overreacting, Shawn," she said as she quickly found the balled up card and handed it to him. He unfolded it and read it.

"Damn it," he swore.

"What? What's wrong?" She asked. He met her eyes and stared at her for a minute before responding.

"Can I trust you?" he asked seriously.

"Of course you can, Shawn," she said, offended at the question.

"No, I mean as a friend, forgetting for a minute that you're a cop. I'm not exactly sure what to do here and I need some unbiased help." She was completely confused.

"Okay, go ahead. I'll help you whatever way I can."

"Here read this," he said handing her the card.

After reading it, she said, "What is this? Blackmail?"

"Sort of. My dad asked John Martin to help find me."

"Oh my," she interrupted.

"In exchange for a favor," he paused, "of the illegal kind."

"Oh no."

"And now I think Gus just went to help him, or talk him out of it. I'm not sure. Freaking head injury."

"Oh Shawn," she said, looking at him distraught.

"Yeah, I'm going to torture the both of them for the rest of their lives."

She smiled, "And that's different how?"

"Ha, ha."

"Shawn, what's the favor?" she asked him.

"Jules, don't ask me that," he looked at her. He pressed the call button for the nurse.

"What are you doing?"

"Getting out of here."

"What? Shawn, can you even walk without falling over?"

"Jules, I have to stop them. They're going to commit a felony because of me," then he quietly added, "I'm not worth that."

"Shawn, let's call the Chief," she said, placing a hand on his leg.

"Did you just hear me?"

"She'll help you and them. Maybe we can entrap this Martin. Then your dad won't have to do this favor."

The nurse entered the room, "Yes, Mr. Spencer."

"I'd like to be discharged. Against medical advice, if necessary."

"I'll call your doctor," she said and left the room."

"Shawn, you need to rest. This is a bad idea," Juliet said, clearly concerned for him.

"No Jules. I need to protect my family." She was taken back by the intensity in his eyes.

"Fine, but I'm going with you. And we're going to see the Chief. End of discussion," she said sternly.

He looked like he was about to protest, but then smiled at her and said, "I like it when you're forceful."

The doctor signed the release under protest. Juliet helped an unsteady Shawn get dressed. His comment of, "I always picture us doing this in the other direction," was received with a light smack. The pair headed to the station in hopes of stopping Henry and possibly Gus.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: To Stop a Thief

Disclaimer: I don't own Psych or its characters.

Gus parked his car in Henry's driveway. He was thrilled to see that Henry's truck was there. He walked quickly to the front door and knocked. The door opened a few minutes later. "Gus, what are you doing here? Who's with Shawn?"

"I left him with Juliet at the hospital. Martin sent you a message there," Gus said rapidly. Henry sighed.

"Damn, did he threaten Shawn?"

"Of course he did. He had flowers and a note sent to Shawn's room. He knows where Shawn is and how he's doing. I hope you have a plan."

"Let me see the note." Henry said, holding out his hand. Gus paled slightly.

"Oh no," Gus said quietly.

"What? Gus, did you leave it there, in the room, with Shawn?"

"Well, on the bright side I did throw it out. And Juliet was there, maybe he didn't notice." They both looked at each other hopefully for a second and then frowned, knowing that it wasn't a possibility.

"Well, Gus, my plan might work better with your help," Henry said.

Gus pondered a second before replying, "Okay, but I need to set-up some ground rules."

Henry shook his head at the comment and said, "Come in and let's talk," He stepped away from the door to let Gus in.

Gus started talking as he entered, "I'll be your distraction, but I'm not stealing anything. And just for the record, I'm only doing this because I think it might help Shawn."

Meanwhile at the Santa Barbara Police Station…

Chief Karen Vick and Senior Detective Carlton Lassiter sat in her office and listened to one of their officers, Peter Anderson, talk about the five missing person reports that were filed that morning. It was unusual to be in on a Sunday, but five reports warranted an investigation. All five were males between the ages of 19-25 and were all ready in the system for crimes like vandalism, and shoplifting. Peter explained that Lyle James, one of the missing five, was suspected to be leader of the Pandilla Dolor. Lassiter looked up from the report he was reading.

"They were all last seen Friday. That's the night that Spencer disappeared," Lassiter said to her.

"Well, thank you for the information, Anderson. Detective Lassiter and I will discuss the next steps in the investigation." Anderson stood and left the room. Lassiter got up and started to pace.

"You don't think that Henry Spencer had something to do with this, do you?"

"Do I think that Henry Spencer made five people disappear? No, I don't, Carlton. That does not sound like Henry," she told him sternly.

"Normally no, but his son was missing. Spencer was the one that these people were supposedly about to kill. Then he mysteriously shows up on Henry's door step. None of that sounds suspicious to you?" He looked at her with his one eyebrow raised.

"Yes it sounds suspicious, but I just can't believe Henry," she stopped talking and was staring out her office doors. Lassiter turned to see what caught her attention. Juliet and Shawn were heading for her office. Shawn was teetering unsteadily and Juliet had her arm around his waist, trying to keep him from falling over.

"Lassiter, get the door," Karen commanded. Lassiter opened it and the pair entered. Juliet ushered Shawn into the room.

"Sweet justice, Spencer. What are you doing here?" Lassiter asked them as he opened the office door. His voice sounded annoyed, but he actually looked semi-concerned. He helped Juliet get Shawn to the couch without falling over.

"Thanks, Lassie," Shawn said to him.

"There had better be a very good reason that you are not in the hospital, Mr. Spencer," she said looking at Shawn and then turned to glare at Juliet. Shawn had his head tilted down, his eyes closed, and was breathing slowly, trying to get the dizziness to pass. His arm was wrapped around his midsection. Juliet looked down at him and put her hand on his shoulder.

"Are you okay?" she asked him quietly.

"I will be, give me a minute. Better tell them why we're here," he whispered.

"Detective O'Hara, I'm waiting," Karen said sternly.

Juliet made eye contact with the Chief and then her partner. "Carlton, close the door, please." Lassiter closed the door and sat in a chair across from the Chief's desk. Juliet remained standing next to Shawn. The Chief sat in her chair as she watched Shawn rest his head back against the couch.

"Are you okay, Mr. Spencer?" The Chief asked him.

"Just ducky. Don't worry about me. Listen to Jules," he said quietly, never moving his head or opening his eyes. Juliet moved to the open chair in front of the Chief's desk.

"We have a bit of a situation. And we need your help," Juliet told the Chief.

"Oh Lord," Lassiter said, rolling his eyes. Shawn opened his eyes and glanced at Lassiter.

"Henry Spencer enlisted the help of John Martin to find Shawn," Juliet told them.

"I knew it," Lassiter said loudly and stood up, "What the hell was he thinking?" His comment made Shawn mad and he was about to tell him so, when someone cut him off.

Juliet stood up and said, "Oh I don't know, Carlton. Maybe something along the lines of, 'my only son is about to be killed and the police don't have a clue where he is. Maybe I should talk to someone who probably does know.'" Shawn grinned widely when Lassiter looked over at him. Lassiter pointed his finger and was about to start his rant, when a loud whistle silenced them all. All of them turned to look at the Chief.

"Sit down both of you," she waited until Juliet and Carlton were seated, "Mr. Spencer, what do you know about this?"

Shawn slowly turned to face Karen. "My dad went to Martin for information on where I was being held. Martin wouldn't tell him anything, but he said that he could find me with one condition. That condition being that my dad has to do him a favor."

"What kind of favor?" Lassiter asked him. "I'm assuming it's illegal." Juliet turned to look at Shawn.

"This is where it gets tricky," Shawn said quietly.

"Mr. Spencer," Karen said, but getting no response, she continued, "Shawn, if we stop him before he does this favor, then there'll be no charges." Shawn pondered his options for a minute.

"Martin wants him to steal the video tape evidence from his son's case and deliver it to him tomorrow night. If he doesn't Martin said he'll kill me," Shawn told them.

"So Martin was the one who brought you to your father's house?" Lassiter asked him.

"I guess. I mean I think so." Shawn said and bowed his head.

"You're not sure?" The Chief asked.

"Honestly, I wish I could remember what happened clearly, but most of it is a blur. I can remember bits and pieces," Shawn admitted quietly. No one had asked him about what had happened yet and he did remember little pieces, which was a completely unnerving experience for someone who remembered everything. He remembered getting hurt and waking up at his Dad's and Martin was there, but he couldn't remember how he arrived at his Dad's house. There was also that dream he had in the hospital. It felt more like a memory than a nightmare, but he wasn't sure.

"Head injuries can lead to temporary memory loss. Can't we arrest Martin for something?" Juliet asked.

"We don't have anything to hold him on," Lassiter said. "Now I know what happened to those missing kids."

"What missing kids?" Shawn asked.

"The kids from the gang. Their relatives filed missing person reports this morning," the Chief told him. "No one has seen them since you disappeared."

"Martin," Shawn said quietly. A flash of the memory appeared to him, but it was gone as quick as it came.

"Yeah, after hearing this, that's what I think too. But that refutes my theory that he was paying the gang to reek havoc on the pier in order to convince the store owners to sign up for his 'protection'," Lassiter said out loud.

"Or it confirms it," Juliet said. "Think about it. Martin pays these boys to perform the robberies, then Shawn gets too close and they grab him. Mr. Spencer goes to Martin. Martin is mad that the gang could expose him, so he makes them disappear."

"But why not kill Shawn," Karen asked.

"Maybe he thinks Spencer doesn't remember anything," Lassiter offered, "Or he needs the favor done first, then he'll kill him."

"Oh gee, that's comforting Lassie," Shawn replied.

"Any idea on when your father will try to steal this evidence?" the Chief asked Shawn.

"I'm getting a strong vibe that it will be today. I'm just a little fuzzy on the time."

"Do you want to stake out the evidence room?" Juliet asked. She heard a chuckle from Lassiter. He had gotten up and gone to the window of the office.

"I don't think we have to do that. Mr. Guster is at the desk with Loretta."

Shawn shook his head, "My Dad's inside all ready. Gus is his diversion." Karen got up and left her office, Lassiter followed quickly. Juliet got up to go with them, but stopped.

"You need to stay here," she told Shawn.

"Don't worry Jules. I'm not going anywhere," Shawn said and smiled. He watched her leave the room. "I don't want to be anywhere near there when you find my Dad."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: You Only Truly Hurt the Ones You Love 

Disclaimer: I still don't own Psych!

Karen Vick stormed past Gus. Gus watched her go past and quickly turned toward the door. "And where do you think you're going?" Lassiter said, grabbing the younger man by the collar. "O'Hara, would you bring Mr. Guster to the Chief's office for me?"

Juliet smiled, walking up to the pair, "With pleasure, Detective." Gus frowned when Juliet took him by the arm in the direction of the office.

"Juliet, you have to understand. Wait. Why are you here? Where's Shawn?" Gus started to rant, but stopped when they arrived at the office door and he saw Shawn sitting on the couch. Gus pulled his arm out of Juliet's grasp. "You took him out of the hospital?" Gus asked her accusingly, but he didn't wait for an answer. He headed straight through the open door toward his best friend, who was still sitting on the sofa. Juliet waited outside the office door.

"Are you out of your freaking mind?" Gus yelled at him, pacing in front of Shawn.

"Gus," Shawn said, but Gus just kept on talking.

"You should be in the hospital. Why are you here? Your dad's going to flip out. Shawn, what were you thinking?"

"Are you done?" Shawn asked quietly, looking up at Gus, who had stopped. Gus nodded. "What was I thinking? What were you thinking? Being an accessory to theft, inside a police station, that's a felony, Gus. How could you let him talk you into it?" Shawn yelled back at him.

"Oh right. Gus can't think for himself. He just goes along with anything anyone named Spencer tells him to. For your information, I'm here because I don't want anything else to happen to you," Gus said loudly. After he said it, he was slightly embarrassed and turned away.

Shawn sat in shock and processed what Gus had just said. "Oh, wow. Well, if it makes you feel any better, I'm not at the hospital because I don't want you to go to jail," he told Gus, "because of me." The two friends looked at each other.

"So, are we cool?" Shawn asked Gus.

"Yeah, for now. But I'm taking your butt home, after we talk to the Chief."

"Deal." They fist bumped. Juliet entered the office.

"Heads up guys, here they come," she said as Vick, Lassiter, and Henry approached the office.

"This is not going to be fun," Shawn muttered.

The scene in the evidence room a few minutes before….

Henry quickly scanned the boxes that lined the shelves of the room. He found the M's and pulled out the Martin box. He rooted through the box and pulled out the video tape. "Gotcha," he cried.

"I could say the same thing to you right now, Henry," the Chief said catching him off guard. Henry spun around and almost dropped the tape.

"Karen, I have a good explanation for being here," he told her.

"Yes, I know."

"You know?" he said, eyebrows arching in surprise. "How do you know?"

"Your son is sitting in my office," she said. His expression of surprise turned to one of anger.

"My son is where?" he asked. He moved past her and was blocked by Lassiter in the doorway.

"I'll take the tape, Henry," Lassiter said. Henry brought the tape up and reluctantly handed it to Lassiter.

"Let's go talk in my office," the Chief said quietly. "We'll figure this thing out."

The three arrived in the office to find Gus sitting next to Shawn, Shawn with his head resting back on the couch, and Juliet standing next the door. When Henry, Lassiter, and Karen entered, Shawn lifted up his head. Henry looked furious. Both Shawn and Gus swallowed nervously.

"Nice job of distraction, Gus," Henry fumed.

"Well, I," Gus started nervously as Henry paced in front of them. Shawn stood up and faced his father.

"Don't you start on him! You shouldn't have involved him at all," Shawn said, keeping one hand on the arm of the sofa to keep from falling over.

"And you! I knew I should have handcuffed you to that damn hospital bed," Henry turned on Shawn. "Do you know how much danger you are in and how much worse you just made it?"

"Don't you blame this on me. You're the one who made this agreement. Then you drag Gus into it. Nice work, Dad." Shawn gripped the arm a little harder. He was starting to feel a little light headed. Yelling probably wasn't good for a concussion.

"Oh, so now I'm a prick for wanting to save my son's life. Well, excuse me for caring," Henry yelled right in Shawn's face. Henry noticed little beads of sweat starting to form on Shawn's forehead. Shawn started to teeter, like he was about to fall over.

"Okay, that's enough. Henry, sit down, you too, Mr. Spencer," Karen scolded the two Spencers. Shawn seemed to be in a daze and kept standing. Gus grabbed Shawn's other elbow, just as Shawn's knees were weakening.

"Hey, sit down, Shawn," Gus said to his friend, trying to get Shawn to sit down. Then to Henry, Gus said, "Yeah, stop yelling at him. He's worried about you, too." Shawn lost his battle to stay upright and collapsed against the couch.

"Damn. Shawn? I think he blacked out," Gus said.

"O'Hara, go get a cool washcloth or something," the Chief said. "Henry, Gus, lay him down flat on the sofa with his feet raised." Gus and Henry complied quickly and Lassiter just watched from his side of the room and shook his head. Karen walked over to the end of the couch as Gus tried to rouse Shawn. Juliet entered with a cool, damp cloth and placed it on Shawn's forehead. Gus knelt down next to Shawn.

"Why is he out of the hospital? He shouldn't be here," Henry whispered, standing at the end of the couch where Shawn's head was.

"Maybe we should call an ambulance and take him back," Juliet suggested.

"No, I'm good. Just a little light-headed," Shawn said without opening his eyes. Everyone in the room breathed a sigh of relief. Shawn started to try to sit up, but Gus stopped him.

"Just stay there for a minute," Gus told him, sternly.

"How are we going to stop this guy?" Shawn asked making eye contact with his father.

"I don't know, Shawn. This is one cruel character. I'm not sure how to approach it," Henry said honestly.

"Can I make a suggestion?" Lassiter finally piped up. Everyone looked at him.

"Please go ahead, Detective," Karen said.

"Henry should meet Martin as planned with the tape, or a facsimile of it. We put a wire on Henry and try to get Martin to admit to something," Lassiter said.

"That's your plan?" Gus asked, "The whole thing? Are you taking lessons from Shawn? Ow!" Gus yelled after getting slapped by Shawn on the back of the head.

"Do you have any better ideas?" Lassiter asked Gus. "We can arrest him on suspicion of murder, but there's nothing to hold him on." Gus looked at Shawn.

"And that will just make him mad," Henry added.

"Didn't you see him kill the gang members? It's all you talked about after they brought you back to your dad's," Gus asked Shawn.

"It's all fuzzy," Shawn admitted. Gus and Henry were surprised at Shawn's admission, after he was adamant about Martin killing earlier.

"Traumatic experiences and head injuries can interfere with memory," Karen told them. "Okay, I think we should go with Lassiter's plan. Tomorrow, Carlton, you and O'Hara will stay at the Psych Office with Shawn and Gus, as a precaution. It's in a public area, less points of access than your house, Henry. Henry, we'll meet you at the office as well at about 9pm. We'll get you set-up with a wire and you can leave from there."

"Are you sure a wire is a good idea?" Henry asked.

"Martin likes to brag. I'm banking on him admitting something to you," Lassiter told him.

"My dad's life is a pretty big bet there, Lassie," Shawn added and glared at Lassiter. Lassiter was about to comment.

"Shawn, its fine," Henry said putting his hand on Shawn's shoulder reassuringly.

"Tonight, I'll have an unmarked car at your house, Henry. Just in case. Mr. Spencer, I'll suggest you stay at your father's."

"Okay, but I don't think I'd have much say in the matter," Shawn said, glancing at his father. Henry nodded in agreement.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: The Calm Before the Storm

Disclaimer: I don't own Psych!

Henry helped Shawn into the house, making sure he didn't fall over. Shawn lay on the living room couch, resting while Henry made dinner. Earlier, they had stopped by Shawn's place to pick up some things and then to the pharmacy for some of Shawn's prescribed painkillers, accompanied by their unmarked police escort. They hadn't said much to each other since the station.

"You need anything over there?" Henry asked from the kitchen.

"No, I'm good," Shawn answered.

"Okay, dinner will be ready soon."

"Dad?"

"Yeah, Shawn."

"Umm, I'm sorry about earlier. I was just, well, worried about you, about Gus."

Henry turned to face his son. "I know. Sorry, about the yelling."

"I wish that you didn't have to do this," Shawn said quietly. "Why am I being so mushy? Must be the painkillers," he thought.

"Stop, we're not talking about that anymore. Do you want to eat over there or at the table?" Henry asked him, trying to change the subject.

"I don't think I'm actually hungry," Shawn said groggily.

"You need to eat something," Henry said looking over at his son, "Did you eat anything today?"

"Breakfast, at the hospital," Shawn said and slowly stood up. He steadied himself on the back of the living room chair on the way to the table.

"Shawn, wait. I'll help you," his father scolded.

"I got it, Dad." Shawn said, stubbornly as he made it to the table and sat down, with Henry hovering nearby. There was a knock at the door and both Spencers turned toward the door.

"I'll get it. You stay," Henry said walking to answer the door.

"No problem, not moving," Shawn commented, resting his head in his arms on the table. Henry opened the door to find Gus standing there.

"Hi, Gus," Henry greeted him.

"Those officers are pretty thorough," Gus said, "I had to show my I.D. I hope you don't mind I came by."

"No, of course not. Come on in. We're about to have dinner," Henry said. Gus walked by and Henry waved up at the unmarked car.

As Gus approached the table, he was surprised that Shawn didn't raise his head. "Shawn?" Gus placed his hand gently on Shawn's shoulder.

Shawn jumped, "What? Ow." Then he put his hands to his temples to try to stop the aching in his head.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. Are you okay?" Gus asked with concern.

"Yeah, I'm just really tired," Shawn said, "Must be all the painkillers."

"Maybe you should go back to bed, bud," Henry suggested, noticing how tired Shawn looked. Shawn put his hands down and lifted his head up to look at them with dazed, tired eyes.

"That's probably a good idea," he said, getting up and moving to his old room. Henry followed him to the room and watched as Shawn crawled under the blankets.

"Yell if you need anything," he told Shawn. Shawn mumbled something that he couldn't make out. Henry chuckled and returned to the kitchen.

"He's probably asleep all ready," Henry told Gus, "Hungry?"

"Heck, yeah," Gus said. They sat down and ate.

Across town in the seedy back room of his bar, John Martin hung up his office phone. The conversation with his son's lawyer left a smile on his face. The incriminating tape from his son's case was missing from evidence. Surprisingly, Spencer had come through for him. While he pondered what to do about the meeting in the park tomorrow night, he listened to the sounds of music and talking from the bar. His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Come in," he called to the visitor. The door opened and he saw that it was his right hand man, Paul. Paul did not have happy news written on his face. John's good mood was fading all ready.

"Now what? Is it my kid again?" John asked.

"No, it's Spencer. You asked that I have someone watch his place," Paul started to explain.

"Yeah?" John was confused. What could have changed from five minutes ago?

"Well, Angelo just called me. He just went by there. There's an unmarked police car watching the place. I think Spencer is going to double cross you. He went to the cops. I know he did or his kid did. Why else would the cops be there?"

John thought for a moment, getting angrier by the minute. Paul nervously watched his boss and waited for the explosion. "But, Johnny's lawyer just called me and said that the tape disappeared today. The prosecutor called him and said that there would be an investigation to see whether or not I had anything to do with its disappearance." John stood and slammed his hand on the desk.

Paul jumped and asked, "What?"

"That bastard! You're probably right. Spencer went to the cops. The call was probably a set-up to convince me that everything was good to go for tomorrow. I'm going to kill Spencer and then I'm going to finish off his kid."

"I told you that you should have killed his kid at the warehouse," Paul said, but he quickly continued, "So, what's the plan? You can't be at two places at once. The cops will be all over the park."

"Yeah, good point. Whatever happens, I want there to be two less Spencers in the world by tomorrow night," Martin said smiling.

TBC


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: The Storm Begins

Disclaimer: Still don't own Psych.

At around 9:30 p.m. on Monday night, Henry, Shawn, and Gus were waiting at the Psych Office when Karen, Lassiter and Juliet arrived with several other officers. Henry sat in Shawn's desk chair as one of the sound technicians was fitting Henry with the tiny microphone and earpiece.

"So, let's go over the plan. Henry, you'll wait in the center of the park by the gazebo, make the exchange and hopefully Martin will say something useful," Karen told Henry. "And if he doesn't, we'll arrest him for soliciting stolen evidence and obstruction of justice."

"Remember, don't push too hard. You don't want him to get suspicious," Lassiter said. Henry glared at him.

"I know what I need to do, Detective. Believe or not, I know something about police work," Henry said angrily. Shawn chuckled from his position on the couch. Lassiter glared at Shawn.

"Well, it's about 9:45. Let's roll. I want to have time to get into position," Karen said to Henry. Then to Lassiter, she said, "I'll call you after it goes down." He nodded in response. Karen walked out and the other officers followed. Henry stood there for a minute and made eye contact with Shawn. They stared at one another. Henry turned and started to walk out.

"Dad," Shawn called and Henry looked at him, "Be careful."

"You too," Henry said and closed the door.

A few minutes later, Henry arrived at the park. Henry exited his truck and walked toward the agreed meeting place. He adjusted the wireless earpiece again. He still thought that this whole plan was of the "suck out loud" variety as Shawn called it. He reached the center of the park and stood by the gazebo. "I'm in place, no sign of him," Henry whispered.

He heard Karen's reply, "Roger that. All units are in place." He noticed one homeless man looking through a garbage can and then a jogger went by. He assumed that they were all uncover cops. He checked his watch, 9:55 p.m. He moved the envelope with the decoy tape to his other hand. He hated to admit it, even to himself, but he was nervous, not just for himself, but also for Shawn and Gus back at the office. Something didn't feel right. He pulled out his cell and was about to dial the office. He closed his phone and put it away. "Stop being a worry wart," he told himself.

Back at the office, Shawn lounged on the couch with his feet up on the one arm. Lassiter paced back and forth at the window. Gus was sitting in a chair near the couch flipping through channels. Juliet was at the desk by the window, glancing to the television and back to her partner.

"Gus, if you leave the History Channel on, I will hurt you," Shawn said. Gus made a face at him and changed the channel. Lassiter's pacing was grating on his nerves, so he decided to grate on Lassiter's.

"So, Lassie, when's the baby due? Stop pacing man, you're making me nauseous," Shawn said. Juliet frowned at him and he knew he was pushing it, but he needed to do something and tormenting Lassiter was fun. Lassiter turned and glared at him, again, but didn't say a word. Gus landed on the Discovery Channel, Mythbusters was on.

"Gus," Shawn whined when he noticed what was on, and looked at the clock. It had been the tenth time he'd checked it in five minutes.

"Oh please. You'll love this one. They are testing explosive decompression on airplanes," Gus said, noticing how many times Shawn checked the clock and was hoping to distract him. Shawn shook his head and stared up at the ceiling. He actually felt tired and closed his eyes.

"Waiting sucks," he muttered.

Gus smiled at him and said, "Yeah, it does."

John Martin sat in his car and called Paul. When Paul picked up, John asked, "You at the park?"

"Yeah, boss. Johnny is at one end and I'm at the other. Henry Spencer is not leaving this park alive."

"Good. There are only two cops here, so I'm set. Call me when it's done. I want to rub it in the kid's face."

"Okay, boss," Paul said and hung up. John looked over at the Psych office window and punched another number in his phone.

Henry checked his watch again. It read 10:02 p.m. "Come on, where are you?" he asked out loud. Karen, who was back in the surveillance van, smiled at his impatience.

An older man about fifty entered the park, his hand suspiciously in his pocket. Karen radioed, "White man, early fifties, dark jacket, approaching from two o'clock. Might be Martin."

Henry watched as the man approached. "It's not Martin," Henry thought, but didn't want to say loud out because it would give away the surveillance.

An officer radioed to Karen that a young man in his early twenties was approaching from the other side of the park. Vick had a sinking feeling in her stomach. "All units, be advised there is a second suspicious person entering the park, and approaching the meeting area."

The older man, who was Martin's associate Paul, came closer to Henry. "You're not Martin," Henry stated.

"Yeah, well, Mr. Martin had a pressing engagement. You got the tape?"

"Yes. Where's Martin? I'm not handing anything over unless it's to him," Henry said angrily. Henry knew this was all wrong. He noticed movement behind him. One of the undercover officers tackled the young man that was coming quickly behind Henry. The young man fired his gun as he fell and Henry felt the bullet graze his arm. Henry clutched his arm in pain and dropped the tape.

Paul lunged at Henry and grabbed the tape. Paul took off running. The officer dressed as the homeless lady tripped him. He went sprawling and the tape went flying. A few minutes later both men were under arrest and sitting in the back of a police car.

Karen was walking toward Henry. He was sitting with a paramedic having his arm bandaged. She could tell he was not being patient. She stopped in front of him. "Karen, something's not right. Where's Martin? No one is answering at Shawn's office." Henry told her.

"I don't know where Martin is. I have some of my guys going to check his bar. Maybe he fled. That young man is his son. I'll call Lassiter and O'Hara to let them know to be on the lookout."

Just then her phone rang. "This is Interim Chief Vick. Lassiter? You're what? Where are Spencer and Guster? Carlton, go back to the Psych Office now. Martin was a no show. He had his son and another associate try to kill Henry Spencer." She hung up and into the radio she called all her available units to report to the Psych Office immediately.

"Henry, you stay here and," she was stopped by his reply.

"If my son's in trouble again, I coming with you." She nodded and they both ran to get into her car.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Showdown

Notes: Hopefully this won't be too confusing. This is what happened with Shawn, Gus, Lassiter, and Juliet while the end of the meeting was taking place.

Meanwhile at Psych 

The phone in the office rang, making everyone in the room jump. Gus walked to his desk and answered, "Psych, Burton Guster speaking."

"Hello, this is Officer Franklin. I need to speak with Detective Lassiter."

"Just a moment," Gus put his hand over the mouth piece, "Lassiter, it's for you."

Lassiter frowned, "Yes, this is Lassiter." From his spot on the couch, Shawn watched Lassiter. Shawn sat up when he saw Lassiter's face pale. Gus looked on with concern and Juliet moved to stand closer to Lassiter. Lassiter hung up and turned to his partner.

"We need to move, now," he said to her.

"What? What's going on?" Shawn asked, concerned. Lassiter made eye contact with the younger man. It was the first time Shawn had ever seen compassion in Lassiter's eyes. It was especially surprising to see it directed at him.

"It seems as though the meeting with Martin did not go well, and," Lassiter paused.

"And what does that mean?" Gus asked, looking at Shawn.

"Your father was shot, no word on his condition. There are a couple other officers down. They have Martin in custody. The Chief wants us over there now, O'Hara. You two are supposed to stay here until you hear from the Chief. Let's go," Lassiter said, walking out the door. Juliet looked at Shawn.

"I'll call you as soon as I know anything," she said to him. He nodded, but didn't say a word. She followed Lassiter out the door.

"He's probably okay," Gus suggested when Shawn stayed quiet with his head down. "It is strange that the Chief didn't call herself?" Gus asked, and Shawn's head popped up in surprise.

"That wasn't the Chief?" Shawn asked him as he got up and started pacing.

"No, it was Officer Franklin," Gus replied. He was beginning to understand where Shawn was going with this.

"Officer Franklin. There's no Franklin on the Santa Barbara Police Force," Shawn said, puzzled.

"You know the names of every officer on the force?" Gus asked.

"Yeah," Shawn said. "If all that went down, why wouldn't the Chief call Lassiter directly on his cell? Why would she want us to stay here? Something's fishy, Gus."

Gus glanced at Shawn, "Yeah, I think you might be right. Let's go."

Lassiter's cell phone rang. He pulled it out of his jacket pocket. "Lassiter," he said. "Yeah Chief, we're on our way," he paused and listened to Karen. Then he replied, "Someone called the office said you needed us there. We left them in the office. Oh no." He paled as he realized that they were duped.

Juliet's phone vibrated and she looked at the screen. It was a text message from Gus. "Lassiter, turn around. NOW."

Lassiter hung up and quickly turned the car around. "O'Hara, what is it?"

Gus grabbed his keys, and was about to stand up so they could leave when the door suddenly opened. John Martin entered with his gun pointed at them, moving it back and forth between them. They froze. Martin approached Shawn, but kept an eye on Gus.

"Well, hi boys. Just stay where you are. I can't believe your police friends fell for the fake phone call," Martin said.

"It was you. Nice touch, saying other officers were shot," Shawn said with venom in his voice.

"Well, it got them out of here pretty fast, didn't it? Did you like how I added your dad was shot? By the way, he should be dead by now, if everything went to according to plan," Martin said smiling. Something about the expression on Martin's face and the gun sparked Shawn's memory of the night that Martin 'rescued' him. The vivid images were a bit overwhelming and he gripped the nearby desk as he closed his eyes. He could see Lyle being shot in the head and falling over, and then the other kid being killed. Images of the other bodies that lined the floor on the way out of the building then surfaced and then he remembered Martin pointing the gun right at his own head.

"Are you speechless, Spencer? You didn't think I'd figure out that your dad would double cross me?" Martin asked.

"You did it. You shot and killed all those kids. I remember it now. They were working for you. They robbed and tormented the storeowners, so that you could get the owners to pay for your protection. You were using them as your scapegoats. They were completely expendable to you," Shawn told him, opening his eyes again. Gus, seated at his desk, looked worriedly at Shawn from across the room. Gus fumbled with his cell and tried to dial Juliet's number hiding it under his desk. He sent her a text message of 9-1-1.

"Yeah, but then the kids got stupid and grabbed you. I would have made your disappearance very quiet. Lyle did always enjoy drama," Martin laughed at him.

"But when my dad came to you, you knew you could use it to your advantage. Have him steal evidence and help your son," Shawn said, putting it all together.

"I should have known that your straight-laced dad would even sell out his own son and go to the cops."

"Shows what you know, he was going to do your favor, but I stopped him," Shawn said.

"Well, you're a moron," Martin said with a smile.

"Oh, right, like you were going to let me live once you got what you wanted. I saw everything," Shawn fired back with a smirk on his face.

Gus felt his phone vibrate in his hand, so he glanced down at the screen knowing that the other two were ignoring him. The text message from Juliet read, "On our way back, false alarm. Hang on." Gus chuckled to himself, "Easy for you to say."

Martin went on taunting Shawn, "You know, for a guy who helped to get his dad killed and is about to die, you sure are grinning a lot. On second thought, maybe I should shoot your friend first." Gus' eyes widened in fear as he stared at Shawn and Shawn panicked as Martin aimed at Gus.

"No, no. You don't want to do that," Shawn said nervously. The door to the office flew open and Lassiter and Juliet barreled in.

"Drop it, Martin," Lassiter bellowed. Juliet was next to him with her gun drawn.

"Oh look, it's Dweedle Dee and Dweedle Dumb. How's Daddy Spencer? Taking him home in a body bag for his baby boy," Martin said with a smile.

The comment made Shawn furious and he was about to jump on Martin and strangle him. Martin's gun was aimed back at him. "Temper, temper, Little Spencer," Martin taunted as he noticed Shawn's fury.

"Henry Spencer is fine. Seems your son's a crappy shot, Martin," Lassiter said with a grin. Shawn made eye contact with Lassiter for a second and he knew his dad was okay. He breathed a big sigh of relief.

"It really doesn't matter. I'll kill his kid here and I'll get my revenge for his double crossing me," Martin said.

"Martin, I'll tell you one more time to drop it," Lassiter growled.

"Detective, what you don't seem to realize is that I hold the upper hand here."

"How do you figure that?" Lassiter asked the criminal, but before he could get this answer the back door of Psych flew open. Karen and a few of her officers entered with their guns drawn. Henry stood behind them.

"Martin, drop the weapon, now," Karen ordered, sternly.

This new predicament baffled Martin. He was moved more in the middle of the room. He kept his gun trained on Shawn, but his back was to Gus. Gus looked at his best friend. Gus could see the panic in Shawn's eyes, even though there was a smirk on his face. Martin's body language spoke of the man's desperation to get out of this situation. Gus was worried about what Martin would do knowing he was trapped. "I need to do something," he thought. Shawn must have seen the decision on Gus' face. He tried to tell Gus no without alerting Martin. Gus smiled at him. Shawn frowned. Gus wrapped his fingers around the lamp on the desk and prayed he could channel his inner athlete; after all he did spend all that time in Little League. Okay, doing statistics, but who's counting?

Across the room, Shawn was freaked. Gus was about to hit the madman, with a gun, in the head with a desk lamp. Shawn was going to kill Gus, if this ended the way he hoped it would. Shawn decided, "Better get Martin's attention focused solely on me."

"So, tell me Martin. Is this how you expected this to turn out?" Shawn asked smugly and smirking like this whole thing was funny. For a minute, he thought he could actually feel his father's eyes boring a hole into the side of his head. Then the lamp connected with Martin's head. Martin crumbled to a heap on the floor of the office and the police officers swarmed him. Gus cheered and dropped the lamp on his desk. Shawn slumped into his office chair, exhausted. Gus and Henry made their way over to him.

"Are you okay, Shawn?" Gus asked.

"Have you gone mental? A desk lamp, Gus?" Shawn cried.

"I think you both have some serious mental issues," Henry said looking back and forth between the pair.

"The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, then?" Gus quipped and Shawn started laughing.

"Excuse me?" Henry said angrily.

Karen walked over to the trio before any blood could be shed. "We're taking Martin down to the station. I'll need to talk to the three of you about everything that happened," she told them.

"Can it wait until tomorrow, Chief? I'm beat," Shawn said yawning.

"Yes, that's fine. Be in my office by nine. Good work, Mr. Guster," she said and walked out of the office.

Gus was beaming at her comment when he looked at both Spencers.

"Oh please, stop smiling," Shawn said.

"You're just jealous that she didn't tell you good job," Gus said.

Henry shook his head, "You two still fight like nine year-olds. Come on. Gus needs to give me a ride back to the park to get my truck. Then he can take you home, Shawn."  
The three left the darkened office, all happy that the bad guy was behind bars.

THE END?


	11. Chapter 11

Epilogue

Gus entered the office about a week after the Martin incident. He knew Shawn wouldn't be back for another few days. The doctors and therefore Shawn's father wanted Shawn to take it easy for a little longer yet. And surprisingly, Shawn wasn't arguing that much, yet. It was an indication of how sore he still must be. Gus had finished his route and wanted to stop in the office to get the mail and check for messages. He found a rather large package in front of the door to the office. "What did you order now, Spencer?" he aloud. As he was scooping up said package, he noticed that it was for him.

"That's weird," he said. He deposited the box on his desk and pulled out his letter opener. He cut into the tape sealing the carton and opened it. There was a card on top of the Styrofoam. He opened that. It read, "This gift is to commemorate the act of valor of Burton Guster. It is bestowed upon him by his loyal best friend and business partner, Shawn Spencer. Thanks a bunch, dude. You saved my tail. Your pal, SS."

Gus laughed. He was now curious to see what was in the package. He opened up the Styrofoam and pulled out a replacement desk lamp. Just then his cell phone rang, he answered it without looking at the caller ID, "Burton Guster."

"I figured you'd want a new one. You know, without a bad guy's brains all over it."

"Shawn, where are you?" Gus said turning around. He saw Shawn standing by a bench outside the office window. He was leaning against the back of it and waving at Gus. His posture appeared to be relaxed, but Gus could see that his best friend wasn't his normal, bouncy Shawn-like self.

"Why aren't you at your dad's?" Gus asked. Then Gus realized how silly it was to still be on the phone. "Get in here."

"I would, but if the old man catches me, I would consider meeting Martin again way less scary."

"Did you ride your bike? That's so incredibly stupid, even for you. You have a bad concussion," Gus ranted.

"Relax, funbuster. I got a ride from a beautiful copper who sprung me from the joint for a little ride. Wave Jules," Shawn said, as he turned and touched the shoulder of the person on the bench behind him. She turned and waved at Gus. Then she said something to Shawn. "Okay, we have to run. Come bust me out for lunch tomorrow."

Gus smiled, "Okay, I'll see you then. Oh, and Shawn?"

"Yeah?"

"You're welcome." Gus said. He heard a chuckle and then the call was ended. He smiled and plugged in his new desk lamp.


End file.
